The humble ice cream cone played a pivotal role in popularizing ice cream across the United States during the early 1900s, despite facing significant health scares. Just two decades after their debut at the 1904 St. Louis Fair, Americans were consuming an estimated 245 million ice cream cones annually. This craze contributed to a dramatic surge in overall ice cream consumption — from about one quart (950 ml) per person in 1900 to quadruple that amount by 1915, according to the International Association of Ice Cream Vendors. By 1929, the year of the stock market crash, Americans were enjoying 365 million gallons (1.38 billion liters) of ice cream yearly, up from 280 million gallons in 1916.
The ice cream cone is widely credited as the driving force behind this explosive growth in the ice cream industry. Walter W. Fisk, a dairy professor at Cornell University, described the decade from 1900 to 1910 as “epoch making” for the trade, noting that “the cone sold many a gallon of ice cream and made many a dollar for those engaged in the business.”
Initially, ice cream cones were handcrafted, but by 1909, the invention of an automatic cone roller revolutionized production. By the 1920s, cone manufacturing was fully mechanized, with batter poured into cone-shaped molds and baked until crisp. This innovation allowed factories to produce hundreds of cones simultaneously. The New York Times reported in 1913 that “factories run night and day and more are being built” to meet demand.
However, the boom in cone production came with public health concerns. Newspapers reported that many cones were contaminated with boric acid and other harmful substances, causing illness and even deaths. In August 1910, the Oregonian condemned the cones as “a conical evil,” warning they “swarm with germs” and contain “a substantial ingredient of plain filth.” Government officials accused some producers of deliberately adding boric acid to stiffen cones, leading to mass confiscations of millions of contaminated cones, including 4.5 million in New York alone, and legal action against certain manufacturers.
Despite these scares, the popularity of the ice cream cone continued to rise. By the Great Depression, cones had cemented their status as an American icon. In 1931 alone, 300 million cones were sold, with vendors staging promotions—such as balancing seven scoops on a single cone—to attract customers. The cone industry also provided jobs for many teenagers struggling financially during the 1930s. One personal account recalls how a young woman scooped cones at a Kresge drugstore soda fountain in Lynbrook, New York, delighting in chocolate cones shared with friends after work.
Alongside cone sales, another wave of innovation was transforming the ice cream market. Entrepreneurs introduced factory-made ice cream novelties that were pre-packaged and ready to sell, eliminating the need for on-site assembly by soda jerks or confectioners. Mechanically refrigerated cabinets, introduced around 1920, facilitated this trend. Advancements in production included automated packaging machines, standardized ice cream mixes with corn sugars and stabilizers, and improved refrigeration technologies. Notably, German engineer Carl von Linde invented mechanical refrigeration in 1870, and the first refrigerated railway car distributed ice cream in 1888. In 1929, Clarence Vogt patented the continuous process freezer, which sped up production and improved quality through better homogenization and pasteurization. Bacteria standards for commercial ice cream were set in 1925, the same year the first mechanically refrigerated ice cream truck was unveiled at a U.S. dairy show.
Capitalizing on these advances, three pioneers launched iconic ice cream novelty franchises: Christian Kent Nelson created the Eskimo Pie; Harry B. Burt Sr. developed the Good Humor bar; and Frank Epperson invented the Popsicle, the frozen treat on a stick. These innovations marked the rise of ice cream franchise opportunities that leveraged technological progress to meet growing consumer demand.
The story of the ice cream cone illustrates how a simple invention helped fuel one of the largest booms in the ice cream industry, shaping both consumer habits and franchise models that endure in the latest ice cream trends today.
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